Life of an Angel
by anem
Summary: Sort of acompaning piece - sequel to Fate is a Strange Thing FINISHED
1. Birthday

I don't own the CJ characters.

But the narrator of this story is mine.

* * *

Birth. Not fun.

Suddenly cold. Suddenly glaring.

Everything strange.

Light. Sounds. Feelings.

Breathing. Remember Breathing.

All the time. Don't stop.

Empty inside.

Filling comes out of thing in mouth. Suck.

Full. Good.

Everything new. Everything strange.

* * *

Mom once said I chose the worst day to be born. I was born three weeks early and on my grandmother's deathday.

My grandmother was murdered when mom was ten. And we still don't know who did it. But we will. I know that. Cause dad is a cop. And he catches all the bad guys. And the guy who murdered my grandmother is very bad.

Grandpa was a cop too. But a long long time ago. Now he has a bar were all the cops go in the evening.

And my other grandfather was a sheriff. But I never met him. He's dead. He was murdered too. But they got that bad guy.

And my other grandmother is dead too. But she was not murdered. She was very ill.

Sheila, my best friend, says my family is creepy. Lots of cops and deads. And mom is a doctor for dead people.

Sheila's brother Hunter says there's no such thing as a doctor for dead people. Cause dead is dead. Hunter's 13 already but he's stupid. It's true that doctors for ill people make them unill, that is healthy again. Hunter says a doctor for dead people then makes dead people undead, that is living. But that's stupid. You can't make dead people living. And mom isn't trying that. She examines the dead people and finds out why they are dead. Cause dead is not always dead. There are many ways of dead. And if somebody was murdered mom finds out and then the police can catch the bad guy. Cause sometimes it looks as someone just died but in real he was killed. And sometimes it looks like he was killed but it really was an accident. And mom finds out what happened.

Sheila says that's scary. But I don't think so. I like listen to mom and dad talking about work. Sometimes they bring case files home. I like reading them. They are very interesting. But mom and dad don't like me reading them. Especially dad. He says I'm too young. I don't think I am. I'm almost ten after all. I'm no baby.


	2. Halloween

Colors.

Red. Blue. Green. Yellow. Orange.

Lots of colors.

Beautiful colors.

And shapes.

Round. Angular. Flat.

Lots of shapes.

And then …

Light. Dark.

Moving. Still.

Loud. Silent.

Lots of different things.

Interesting world.

* * *

Uncle Nigel once told me about the first time mom took me to visit the morgue. It was my first Halloween. So I was six weeks old.

Emmy, the reception woman, was the first to notice us. Emmy's not there anymore. But I remember her. She was nice. She had black hair and glasses and she always had paper and a pen for me to draw on. But now there's Cindy. Cindy's quite nice too. But she doesn't let me take her pens.

Back then, Emmy was still there.

"Dr. Cavanaugh! Ohhh, is that her?"

"Yeah, this is Angel."

"She's sweet."

"Thanks, Emmy. Where are the others?"

They had a staff meeting. Nigel said they were all surprised when mom came into the conference room with me on her arm.

"I thought we'd cheer you up a little before hell brakes loose." She said.

She had brought them Halloween cookies. Mom makes great Halloween cookies. They have chocolate chips inside and drawings of Halloween stuff in colored icing. Like skulls and pumpkins and bats and spiders. Dad says mom got really good at making them now. But that was the first time she made them and the drawing were scary. They are not scary now. But everyone loved the cookies anyway.

So everyone at the morgue got to see me. Some of them for the first time. And mom showed me around.

And later while I was sleeping in mom's office mom helped Bug and Nigel in autopsy. It was one of dad's cases. So he came to ask what they had found out.

"Bug, what you got for … " And then he saw mom. "Jor, what you doin' here? Where's Angie?"

They called me 'Angie' back then. When I first started to say my name, it sounded like 'Andy'. And that kind of got stuck. Now everyone calls me 'Andy'.

"Helping. And she's sleeping in my office. Don't worry. I got this." She had a baby phone to hear if I woke up.

"'Jor'? You hate being called that!"

Dad's the only one calling mom 'Jor' sometimes.

"I thought I do. But I kind of like it now."

All others call her 'Jordan'. Or 'Doc' or 'Dr. Cavanaugh'.

"Good to know, 'Jor'"

"Ok. I still hate it."

Mom gets mad if they don't.

"You never told me you don't like your nickname, Jordan."

"But I do. Guess I only like you calling me 'Jor', no one else."


	3. Thanksgiving

Moving.

See different things.

Hear nice sounds.

Voice sounds.

Sitting.

Difficult.

Lots of nice voice sounds.

Try again.

* * *

Just like mom makes cookies on Halloween, dad makes turkey sandwiches for Thanksgiving. Like most of the tradition things in our family this got stuck from when I was a baby. See, mom and dad didn't do much of these things before. And when I was born they wanted to give me all these things normal families have. Like Thanksgiving turkey.

So dad tried to make turkey for me which was kinda stupid cause I was still a baby and babies don't eat turkey. But as dad never had made turkey before, it got all burned and they had to safe it somehow. So he made sandwiches out of the rest. And he's making sandwiches every year since.

Well, now he can make the turkey without burning it. Which is good cause otherwise there wouldn't be enough for my brother Mathew. Mat really eats a lot. And he probably would be fat if he wouldn't be running around that much. He's seven, you know. But he's not good at school because he doesn't like sitting still. He likes running around and eating.

I am good at school. My favorite is science. Cause … I don't know, I just like it. Sheila's favorite is English. She really likes writing. And reading. Reading's good. I like that too. But writing not so much.

Dad says I'm like mom. She likes science too. And writing not so much. Cause mom's got to do 'paperwork' at work. That's like writing reports. And that sucks. But mom says I'm more like dad in that point cause he doesn't like paperwork either but does it anyway. Cause he has to. And I do my homework. Not the additional ones we sometimes get, like Sheila does, but the regular I do.

Looks wise everyone says I'm like mom with dad's eyes. Dad often jokes around and says I'm so much like mom he doesn't know if he's really my dad. But come on, dad's dad. Sometimes he says I'm a miracle. Perhaps an imacalat concept. That's when a woman has a baby without doing it. You know what I mean, it? Good. But there's no such thing as imacalat concept. Cause everybody gets half the genes from your mom and the other half from your dad. It would be like building a house with only half the plan. It wouldn't work.

Matty looks like more like dad. I already said he likes running and eating. Dad says that's like Uncle Cal. And he should be careful, cause if he'd stop running so much, he'd get fat. Dad was fat as a kid. He looks real funny on old photos. They only had paper photos back then. Can you imagine that? No editing and stuff. And to put two pics in one you actually had to cut them with scissors and paste them on a piece of paper! Can you imagine that?


	4. Christmas

Lots of things.

Different colors and shapes.

Different sounds.

Sitting up and lying down.

Making noises.

Fun.

* * *

Sheila says Thanksgiving and Christmas are family holydays. Her family always goes visiting grandparents on Thanksgiving and the other grandparents on Christmas. But then, they _have_ four grandparents to visit. We don't. Just grandpa, and he lives with us. So no use to visit.

We could go visit Uncle Cal more often, maybe. But mom and dad always have to work, so we can't go on vacation. I mean Sheila's dad works with computers and her mom's a teacher. They don't have to work on holydays. Mom and dad have to, though. See, people die on holydays. And bad guys don't stop doing bad things.

Both mom and dad get some time of on holidays, though not always together. So what. We always get to celebrate Christmas together. Some years at the morgue and other years at the precinct. It's actually really cool. We're all friends at both places and we get to play games with them and Mat and I get presents like other kids at school don't.

Sometimes Uncle Cal comes to visit. He's real cool too. He knows all about the newest computer games and stuff. Like Uncle Nigel. But in a different way. I really like him. He lives in Kewaunee. That's in Wisconsin. You got to get on a plane to get there. That far away it is. Dad lived there too, a long time ago, before he came to Boston.


	5. Easter

Tastes.

Different tastes.

Sweet. Good.

Sour. Bah. Bitter. Bah.

Eat? Not Eat?

Mommy!

Mommy good.

Daddy good.

Stranger. Bah.

Make sound. Voice sound. Fun.

_Mamamamamamamamamam._

* * *

You know, of all the holydays, I like Easter best. Egg hunting! Egg hunting's fun. Especially egg hunting with Uncle Nigel.

He always hits the eggs real good but gives clues as to where they are. You have to solve the clues to find them.

Once all we got was an x-ray of an chocolate egg in the lung of some body. Aunt Lily didn't like that one at all.

"That's just gross." She said. She almost didn't let Sanjay go searching. He's Lily and Uncle Bug's son. He's eight now.

But Bug let him go searching. "But not in the crypt or in autopsy." He added. "That x-ray looks fake anyway. There must be some other clue in there."

But what?

It wasn't until I looked into the file of a case mom and Nige were working on. It was the same x-ray, but with a bullet instead of the egg. So I thought, maybe the eggs are, were a bullet could be? And they were. One under the microscope Nige used for bullet comparison (it had a cover, so we didn't see it), one in an evidence bag between other bagged bullets, labelled 'egg bullet', and one in the tank used to fired comparison bullets in, packed water resist.

That was fun!

Lily says I always loved finding things. She says I loved that baby game where you put your hands in front of your face and pretend you're not there. Pretty stupid game I think, but babies are stupid, so I guess it works. Lily asserts I never got tired of that as a baby.

Finding things is fun. Not so much the accidental way where you just come across something. Though that can be fun, too. What's real fun is to figure out something and then get rewarded by finding a thing. Or a secret. Anything.

Guess that's why I like science. It's about figuring out how things work. And then you know it and can try figure out more difficult things.

And it is quite a lot like what mom and dad do at work. They figure out who killed someone. There's no more powerful figuring out than that.

When I'm grown I'm going to do that too. I just don't know how yet.

There's so many ways. There's cops, detectives, like dad, who question people and try to get them to tell everything. And they are the ones who arrest the bad guys. Then there's medical examiners, like mom, who look at the victim and figure out what happened to them. And not to forget criminalists like Nigel, who collect evidence and figure out what happened based on that. There are lots of different criminalists. Nigel works for the ME's office, that is with mom and the others. But there are also the CSIs. The crime scene investigators. They work more with the police.

All of them are important. And I'll be part of one of these groups.


	6. The Morgue

_Hey little girl. Who do you belong to? What kind of mother brings their baby to a nasty place like this?_

Strange woman. What does she want?

_Come here. Let's see where your mommy is._

Not up! Don't want up! Want mommy!

_Wahhhh._

_Andy! Come 'ere. Didn't I tell you to stay in my office?_

Mommy!

_Mamma._

_Mrs. Harris. You should have waited in my office._

Aunty Lily.

_I'm sorry. But I saw this little girl crawl along…_

_Jordan. This is Mrs. Harris. Gordon Harris' wife._

_Oh. I'm not finished with him yet. I just came out, cause I couldn't hear Andy anymore._

* * *

I already have a badge. Not a real one of cause. Nigel made me one for my first birthday. But it looks quite real. He used a mold of a real one to make it. 

But the badge is just for playing. I mean, no one would believe it was real, would they? And mom and dad wouldn't let me try solve real crimes anyway. Or at least to be part of it. Though that would be cool. Help them with their cases.

Well, I got real badge like things, too. These clip things you have to put on, when you are at the morgue or at the precinct. Usually you get one saying 'visitor' each time you go there and you have to give it back when you get out. But I'm there so often I got permanent ones. Personalized ones with my name and a photo on it. Like mom and dad have. Matty got those too. Sanjay doesn't. But then, he's not at the morgue that much and never at the precinct.

I like the morgue. Especially the trace lab. There is lots of interesting stuff in there. Nigel can do quite a lot cool experiments. Dad doesn't like it, but Nige let's me help him with them. Mom let's me if I do my homework first. I often go to the morgue after school and do my homework in mom's office. Then I can help Nige with experiments.

One day we did this experiment to find out how much explosive was used in a bomb and how close the victim was to the bomb. Nigel said the scene might have been disturbed after the explosion 'cause the pressure that was necessary to make that amount of damage to the inner organs of the victim didn't add up with what the CSI found about the bomb. But there was no other proof of it.

So we build several bombs the same type that was used at the crime but with different amount of explosives. And then we blew them up. In a safety box of cause. And we put these big fat suits on as protection. And we measured the pressure at different distances from the bomb.

Then Nigel fed all this data into his computer and did simulations of the explosion. But it still didn't add up.

There was this one scenario where everything from the location of the body to the damage of the scene was the same as was found. The same one the police believed to be the case. But the inner organs of the victim should have been much less damaged.

When we lined up the inner organ damage and the location of the body, the rest of the scene was different.

We both looked at the photos over and over again. And it was me who recognised the bag the bomb was placed in. It was one of those bags that are actually two. A normal one and a very small one. It was torn in lots of little pieces, so all the CSI could do was estimate the size of the bag. But there was this one little pendant that looks pretty insignificant the CSI probably didn't look into it. But it only comes with this one type of bag. All kids at school know about it. It's very popular. But the adults think it's just some random gimmick and worth nothing.

And when I found this pendant and told him about the bag, Nigel had an idea. He immediately fed the new parameters into the computer and the simulation had the same outcome as was found at the scene.

There were actually two bombs. One small one that exploded when the victim was next to the bomb. It did the damage to the inner organs but didn't kill the victim on the spot. Instead he tried to get away. The second bomb was larger and did all the damage to the scene and the rest to the victim.

This way everything could be explained. And the case could finally be solved.


	7. The Precinct

_Daddy, daddy, daddy, …_

No daddy. Where's daddy?

_Ma'am? Are you allowed to be here?_

Uncle Sean!

_Yes. See._

Look uncle Sean, my badge.

_Of cause, Detective Andy. My apologies._

Grin.

_Hi, Sean. Where is he?_

_Hello Doc. Interrogation 1._

_Thanks._

_Come on, Andy._

Mommy and I go into a small room.

Can see daddy in the window. He talks with someone.

_Daddy, daddy! We've pantakes!_

_He can't hear you, darling. We have to wait till he's finished._

* * *

Matty likes the precinct better. Cause of Detective Seely. They got the same first name. Mathew. And they are like best friends sometimes.

Detective Seely came into dad's precinct about three years ago. He had been there a long time ago but he went to some other place and came back.

Grandpa dropped us off at the precinct because he had stuff to do. We stayed in dad's office while dad put some evidence in the evidence room. We're not allowed to go there.

"Hoyt? Do you know where …?" This blond guy said coming into the room. He was really confused to see us there.

"Huh? Hi. Who are you two? And where's Hoyt?"

Matty was still four and afraid of strangers. So I answered.

"I'm Andy and this is Matty and dad's gone to the evidence room. And who are you?"

"Da… you're Hoyt's kid's? I thought he made them up."

"Dad never makes things up! And you didn't say who you are!"

"Persistent, are we? I'm Detective Seely. I work with your dad."

"No. You don't." Matty said from behind of me. We knew all the detectives dad worked with but we had never seen him.

"Seely. I see you met my kids." Dad came back at that moment.

"Daddy, daddy." Matty was with him immediately.

"This little one here's my son Mathew and the young lady's my daughter Angel. Say hello to detective Seely, you two."

"Hello." Matty always did what he was told.

"Mathew, huh? Did you name him after me?"

"Huh? Matt Seely. Your name's Mathew?"

"Yup."

"Oh. Jordan just liked the name Mathew Brian. And since I kinda named Andy …"

Matty and Seely got close since then. Seely takes us around the precinct sometimes. Even to places dad wouldn't take us. Like the shooting range. He even let us shoot once each a few month back. That's really impressive. You get thrown back a lot. Matty really liked that. He wants to learn how to shoot now. But mom and dad say he's too young.


	8. The Wedding

Slowly. Slowly.

One step at a time.

Drop the flowers on the floor.

One at a time.

Slowly. Mommy said slowly.

I look pretty.

Daddy's up front. Go to daddy.

Slowly.

Drop one flower. And another. And …

Everybody's looking at me. Uncle Garret, Uncle Nigel, Aunty Lily, Uncle Bug, … everybody.

Nearly there. Daddy's there.

Slowly.

They are looking …

_Daddy!_

_Come 'ere, hon. Look at mommy._

Mommy's pretty.

She's coming with grandpa.

She's very pretty.

_Wow._

Daddy's looking at mommy. Everybody is looking at mommy now.

* * *

Most parents get married before their first kid is born. Some get divorced afterwards. Others of course don't get married at all. Mine got. Married that is. But I was already two then. I was the flower girl. 

Of course there are pictures and such, so I probably know how everyone looked like from those. But I remember that day a little.

I never told anyone, but I was scared walking down that aisle. I knew I had to walk slowly and drop the flowers one at a time. That was ok. But everybody staring at me wasn't. I tried not to look at them but I could feel their looks. I was very relieved when I reached dad.

I don't remember much of the rest of the day. Just that it was long. And that I didn't like going home.

I think it was the first night I knew neither mom nor dad were going to be there. They had been gone before that of cause. They must have had night shifts. Or got called in in the night. But then only one of them was gone or I didn't know they were.

That night I was alone with grandpa and I knew. I was scared. I didn't want to go to sleep. I guess eventually I did though.

The next morning mom and dad weren't back. I remember waking up and going to look for them. But I couldn't find them. Guess they did come back sometime during the day.

And they probably made my brother that night. Cause babies need nine month to come out and Matty was born about nine month later.

When Matty was born I was a few month short of being three. The first few weeks of his live mom stayed at home. I was happy and exited about that. But soon I found out that it wasn't exiting. The baby was crying a lot and when he was sleeping mom was too. Mom didn't spend much time with me. I didn't like that and I blamed it on Matty.

But after a while things got better. Matty stopped crying so much and mom and dad spend more time playing with me.

Now it's great to have a little brother. Matty looks up to me. I can tell him to do things. And it's always good to have an ally if it comes to getting things or staying up longer.


	9. Kindergarten

Gonna go to school. Gonna go to school. Today I gonna go to school.

_Mommy! Daddy! I gonna go to school today!_

_Uhh, hon. It's still early._

_But I gonna go to school today!_

_Yes, honey, you're a big girl. But let us sleep a little more, ok?_

_Why don't you go decide what you'll be wearing? You wanna look pretty, don't you?_

Find something pretty to wear at school.

Maybe this? I like this.

Or this? This is good too.

Hmmm. Difficult.

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School.

There're lots of kids at school. New friends?

I like friends. Nigel, Lily, Bug, Sean, …

There's a girl with her mommy. Maybe she wanna play?

_Hi!_

_Hello, dear. This is Sheila. And who are you?_

_Andy._

_Andy? That's a strange name for a girl …_

The mommy's talking with mommy. The girl, Sheila, didn't say a word.

_Wanna play with Lego?_

Her mommy tells her to go play. She nods. Not saying any word. Maybe she can't speak.

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Introduction.

My turn.

_My name is Andy Hoyt and I'm …_

_Hahaha, that a boy's name! She got a boy's name! Hahaha._

Boys are laughing.

Don't want them laughing at me.

_No! It's not! It's a girl's name too!_

_A boy's name! A boy's name!_

Still laughing.

This one boy Chris's the loudest. Maybe he thinks he's strong. But I'm stronger.

_Oh yeah? And what's your name? Christina?_

Laughing again. But now at Chris.

He was mean. He deserves it.

* * *

Did I mention that, though I like my nickname, I don't like being told it's a boy's name? I get that every time I meet someone new. It's ok the first time. I still don't like it but I kinda understand. It's fun teasing people.

But there are some people that do that every single time they see me. Especially some boys. Like my best friends older brother. He just won't get it. And I'm about as strong as he is even though he's more than three years older. I gave him many a bruise since I know him. But he's too stupid to understand nobody but him and maybe his friends think that's funny.

Sheila and I met the first day in school. She was afraid of the other kids at first so I protected her. Cause if you're afraid you probably get a reason to be afraid of.

Sheila and I are best friends ever since.

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Did I say I like being a girl? As a girl you can do everything without being ashamed. Imagine a boy who likes to dress up pretty? Or doing quiet stuff? Like reading or playing house or doctor or something. And boys are told not to cry. It's ok to cry sometimes. But boys always try not to.

I like doing 'girl's stuff'. And I like doing 'boy's stuff'. Like running or fighting and such. But girls are not that much laughed at when they do 'boy's stuff'. That's good. I like that.

My favorite subject at school, science, is considered a boy's subject. You get extra praise if you're good at it as a girl.


	10. Mom's Birthday

I think that's all you have to know about me and my family. If I missed something please let me know.

So, today's mom's birthday. And this year is special. Not because she's any special age now, like forty or something. No, it's because I'll be ten in a week. You might ask why mom's birthday's special when it should be mine. You see, mom's mother was murdered a week after her, mom's, tenth birthday. And that's still very important for mom. And so it is for all of us.

Mom has been a little nervous the last few weeks. She's afraid something will happen around my tenth birthday. Usually dad's the most superstitious of us all. But with this, …

People say I'm very much like my mother. And not only looks wise. I think I've a lot from dad too, but that's only me. Well, mom says so too. And I was born on my grandmothers deathday.

That's got to mean something.

So today might be the first day of some strange weeks. And if not … mom and I will definitely be waiting for something to happen. If bad or good … we'll see.

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Meanwhile, Matty and I got up early today and we made breakfast. Now, we'll wake up mom and dad.

_Ha-ppy Birth-day too youu, Ha-ppy Birth-day too youu, …_

_Happy birthday, mom!_

_Happy birthday, Jor._

It's a nice morning. And mom likes her breakfast. Unfortunately, we've got to go to school.

_Kids? Can you two please promise mom something? As a birthday present?_

_What, mom?_

So this is it. The start of the Waiting for Something.

_Can you be very good the next two weeks? Not just normal good. But extra good?_

Matty and I both nod. We know what this means. Do nothing we could regret if something bad happens.

_Thanks. I love you both._

_We love you too, mom._

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Evening.

The day's been pretty uneventful. Just ordinary plain mom's birthday. Like a lot of other years.

There was a little party at grandpa's bar. With mom's friends from work.

Mom doesn't like birthday parties. Never did. But we still celebrate every year. I think mom does like her parties. She just doesn't want anybody to know. So she says she doesn't.

The party was nice. The adults drank alcohol stuff. As usual. I don't see how they can like that. It smells awful. We kids had sodas. There was lots of talking and laughing. And jokes only morgue people can make. Personally I think those are the best.

And mom got presents of course. Matty and I gave her a CD of a reading of one of her favorite books. Not just anybody reading but Matty and I. We read chapters in turn and recorded them. Mom liked it very much. Now she can listen to us reading in the car.

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Next day, evening.

The second day of the Waiting was like any other day. Nothing unusual.

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Two days later and still nothing.

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Another three days and nothing.

Tomorrow's my birthday. And halftime for the Waiting. Let's see if anything happens at all.

Good night everyone.


	11. My Birthday

So, it's halftime for the Waiting. September, 18th. And I'm ten years old.

_Ha-ppy Birth-day too youu, Ha-ppy Birth-day too youu, …_

_Happy Birthday, Andy!_

_I can't believe my little baby's ten years old._

_Mom!_

_No, seriously. Was it really ten years ago, that we first saw our angel?_

_I think it was only yesterday._

_Dad! Stop that!_

Every once in a while mom and dad are like this. They get all soppy and say we're their little wonders and things like that. It's kinda annoying. Thank God, they don't do this when any of our friends is around. That would be so embarrassing!

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School's out for today. Nothing strange yet.

It's kids' day at grandpa's bar. Nothing alcoholic, not even for adults. And no smoking. The smoke always makes the bar smell bad.

My friends from school are here and we'll have fun. There's drinks and snacks and games and music and all.

_Andy, come on. Let's dance. This music's cool!_

_I know. I chose._

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Presents time.

_Here. This is from me._

Sheila.

_What's this?_

_Open it!_

_Hmm. Looks like a book … an annotated Sherlock Holmes! Cool! Thanks so much, Sheila! You're the best._

Sherlock Holmes. My hero.

The next. Another book, a puzzle, a baseball bat! I have gloves and balls, but was missing a bat!

A magnifying glass!

_Thanks, Mat!_

A diary from Lily …

_To write down your thoughts._

I'm not that font of writing but thanks anyway.

Nigel! He promised me the best birthday present ever!

_You'll love me big time for this, young lady._

Oh, my God … that's … that's

_FINGERPRINTING POWDER? Wow! Thanks, Nigel. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Wow. It's pink._

_Complete with a brush and some lifting tape._

_Wow. This is the most awesome present ever!_

This is going to be fun! I can take fingerprints form all kind of things!

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Evening. Bed time. The fingerprint set is secure on my bedside table. And so is the locket. The locket …

After the party we went to visit grandmother's grave. As usual. It's her deathday. She deserves some time. Even so only mom and grandpa ever knew her.

On our way home mom held me back and gave me the locket. It was grandmother's a long time ago. Inside is a picture of mom as a baby. Mom said she wants me to keep it. I'm old enough now to keep it save.

Mom's got a similar one. Dad gave it to her for her birthday just before I was born. It has a picture of dad holding baby-me inside.

Mom said the locket was a connection between her and her mom. To lockets with their baby daughters. Till yesterday.

Now it is a connection between mom and me. She has one with baby-me and I have one with baby-her. And one day, when I have my own baby, I should put a picture of it inside. So I can keep my baby close. Like she does with me.


	12. The Seven Guy

_author's note: I think I have to give some credit to jmkw for the next chapters. I was thinking of a totally different story before, but this one might actually be better._

* * *

Next day. School's over.

Nothing unusual at school.

My print set's packed in a box in my back. I've decided to carry it around. It's not heavy and it might come in handy. Who knows. Especially since there's still one week of the Waiting left.

The locket is stored away safe in my jewellery box. Yes, I have a jewellery box. It's wooden and painted a pastel green. It's got different colored glass gems all over it. Inside it's got lots of little boxes, all laid out with dark blue velvet like cloth. I store there necklaces, rings, hairclips, hair bands and the like. Now there's a special little box for the locket.

_Wanna go to the Seven?_

_Sure._

The Seven is _the_ place to hang out. It's not far from school. A café. Sort of. You can get drinks and snacks there. There's place to sit, some tables, some video games, … And the owner sponsors our little league team. He lets us practice in the back yard. Well, the place where things are delivered and such. It's not big but it's a start. For when we can't practice at school because others are.

The Seven's the place where big things are decided. Even high school kids like hanging out there.

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The only strange thing about the Seven is the Seven Guy. Nobody knows his name. He's never talking to anyone. He just sits at his table in the corner and drinks sodas. Every single day. So he's just called the Seven Guy. He's got long grey brown hair and a beard. And worn out clothes. Like he's homeless or something. But I don't think he is. He doesn't stink. And his clothes are not really dirty. Plus, he seems to have enough money to pay all those sodas.

He's throwing his empty cans into trash without getting up. He's good. Maybe he used to be a pitcher.

I've got an idea. I'm gonna try out my print set on him. He's got gloves on. But is fingertips are sticking out. It should be possible.

_Andy? Where you goin'?_

I fish out the last can with a pencil and bring it back to where we are.

_What's that supposed to be?_

The Seven Guy's watching.

_Practice._

I take out the print set and dust the can. Like I've seen Nigel do several times. There are some nice prints.

_Andy! He's watching!_

_I know._

So Sheila noticed. I think he's harmless. If he'd something to hide and knew what I was doing he'd tried to stop me. Or he'd wear real glove and not produce so many nice prints for anyone to find.

I lift the prints with the tape. And label them. 'Seven Guy'. Nice pink prints. Maybe I'll run them through the database one day. I know how that works. Nigel showed me. Well, I made him show me.

Maybe I'll start my own print library.

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Next day, after school. We're on our way to the Seven again.

_What's that?_

There's a squad car in front of the Seven.

_What's the police doing there?_

Some CSI get out of the shop and drive of.

_Something's happened. Let's take a look._

_I don't know …_

_Oh, come on Sheila._

Is that Matty sitting in the squad car? Uh, yeah, I told him to wait here after school and we'd go to the precinct later.

_Andy! Fred's gonna take us to dad later!_

Fred was one of the uniforms at the precinct. And just now, he's coming out of the Seven.

_Hey, Andy. Get into the car, I'll take you with me._

_What about Sheila?_

_She your friend?_

_Yup._

_Wanna ride in a squat, Sheila?_

We all get in.

_What happened here, Fred?_


	13. Detective Andy

Fred wouldn't tell. But I found out anyway. The Seven was broken into the night before. But apparently nothing was stolen.

Today the Seven looks normal again. Or not. There're not as many kids as there used to be. But that's not it. There's something off.

_Where's the Seven Guy?_

_Huh? … You're right. He's not here. Maybe he thinks it's still closed?_

_Or he was the one braking in?_

Mark. He's having too much fun being at a crime scene. Guess he'd like to see blood everywhere.

_I don't think so. Don't ask. Gut instinct. Something's happened._

Maybe Tony, the waiter, knows something?

_Tony, did you see the Seven Guy?_

_The guy from the corner table? What's he to you?_

_When did you last see him?_

_When I opened up today. As usual. Why?_

_He came today? Where's he now?_

_Hey, I don't know. He just stared at the wall for a while and then he went. You're too curious for a little kid._

The wall. What did he find on the wall? There are this framed posters. They've always been there. Never changed …

_Andy?_

Wait a minute. That's odd.

_Andy? What's up?_

_See that poster? Someone opened the frame recently._

_Huh? How do you know?_

_There's a not sun bleached part visible there. Come on, help me._

_What?_

_Help me get this down. But don't touch it directly. Use your sleeves or something._

_What for?_

_To look for prints. We got to find out who opened the frame and why._

_Shouldn't you leave that to the police?_

Where's your sense for adventure, Sheila?

_Hey! What you're doin'?_

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After some arguing with Tony I managed to get two prints of the back of the poster frame. Now to the inside.

_Hey, hey. That's enough. You're not gonna destroy that poster._

_We're not. Just looking._

_No. Bugger off. Or you'll get trouble!_

_Okay, okay._

No such luck.

At least we got two prints. That's a start. Plus those of Seven Guy.

And if nothing's left, I can always tell dad or someone. Then they can investigate officially.

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_Nigel? Can we play with your computer?_

_Ok. But be careful._

_Always am._

We're at the morgue. Sheila, Mark, Matty and I. We'll run the prints through the database. See, if someone turns up.

_You really know how to do this?_

_Sure._

_Andy knows all 'bout trace._

Thanks, little brother, I wish I would.

_Ok. They're all scanned in. Ready? Go!_

_And now?_

_Now we wait._


	14. A Cold Case

_Beep. Beep._

_The Computer found something. The Seven Guy. Oh, no …_

_What?_

_He's here._

_What? Where?_

_He's dead._

_Yeah. Mom's doing the autopsy. There're just the prints here. No id._

_Beep. Beep._

_The poster prints. Uh …_

_What? The Seven Guy? Another dead guy?_

_No. … This is bad. Listen. Bob Terence. Convicted of robbery, attempted murder of officer and murder twelve years ago. Released last week on probation for good behavior._

_That's bad. You gotta tell someone, Andy!_

_No. Not yet. We don't know how old the prints were. Maybe they've been there for ever. And dad did handle this case twelve years ago. We try get the files and find out more. Then we tell. Promise._

Ok. Print this and it's off to the precinct.

_Hey. I didn't know you were coming. You brought friends?_

_Hi, mom._

Hope she didn't see what I just printed.

_We gonna go to dad now. Right, Andy?_

_Yup. Let's go. See you, mom._

_I could drive you …_

_No, thanks. We'll take the bus._

_Ok. But be careful, y'hear me?_

_Of course, mom. We will._

_Good. See you._

_See you, mom._

_Good bye, Mrs. Hoyt._

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Good. Dad's not here.

_Matty. You check the door._

_Okay._

Good brother. Now to the files.

Ah, here. Bob Terence.

Let's see.

_He robbed this shop and killed the clerk. That's not far from school! Hm, the first officer on scene, Simon Frey, followed him to the Seven. Terence knocked out Frey. Then he sent the waiter outside with a ransom message. There were no customers at the time. Hm, Officer Frey had several cuts on his face and severe burns on his hands when they freed him. Dad could finally arrest Terence. But they never found the money from the shop._

This is a really bad guy. I wonder how he could get out.

_Oh my god. And this guy broke into the Seven?_

_Maybe. But the poster's been there like forever. The prints can be twelve years old. He was there then. No one knows what he did then._

_And this cop? What happened to him?_

_I don't know. This doesn't say anything about him._

_What about the money?_

_Never found. But … maybe that's what he was looking for. Maybe he hit it in the poster frame somehow. And he broke in to get it._

_And what's the Seven Guy got to do with this._

_No clue._

_Dad's back!_

Shit!

_Hey._

_Hi, dad._

_Hello Mr. Hoyt._

_Hello. … Andy? What you did at my file cabinet?_

_Nothing!_


	15. Mad Dad

_You did what?_

_Dad! You have to catch this guy._

_Angel Emily Hoyt-Cavanaugh! Digging around in cases can be very dangerous. Live threatening dangerous sometimes! You know that! And you dragged in not only your little brother but your friends too? What were you thinking?_

He's using my full name. He never does that. He must be really really mad.

_Da-ad! Please!_

_You wait right there! We're not done!_

I should have known. Dad doesn't even like me just reading case files.

But still, he's calling dispatch to send someone to get Bob Terence.

_Come with me. All four of you._

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Dad drives to Mark's home.

_Matty, Sheila. You wait here. Andy, Mark, you come._

_Dad!_

_No arguing!_

Dad's knocking on Mark's door.

_Yes? Mark! What …?_

_Hello, Mrs. Norris. My name's Woody Hoyt. I'm Andy's father._

_Yes?_

_I'm afraid, my daughter made your son participate in a too serious game. And she wants to apologise._

_I don't think I understand …_

_They were playing crime scene investigators._

_And?_

_In a real live crime._

_What?_

_Thankfully nothing happened. Andy?_

_I'm sorry._

Oh, pleeease. As if I am.

_I don't understand what …_

_Mom. It's nothing._

_It's not nothing. Mrs. Norris, they were trying to investigate a cold case of a robber turned murderer._

Oh, dad! You're getting Mark in trouble too. Isn't it enough that I'm in trouble?

_What? Mark?_

See!

_Mom. It …_

_You …. Uhm … Thank you for bringing him home, Mr. Hoyt._

We go back to the car.

Guess Mark won't like crime scenes any more.

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Sheila's mom got mad too.

I'm really sorry I got you in trouble, Sheila.

I didn't want that.

How should I have known the Seven Guy's case is that serious. I never thought the prints would show up in the system.

I never thought the Seven Guy would be dead. The prints I had were funny. I thought they weren't clear. But the ones in the computer looked the same. The Seven Guy's prints _are_ funny.

And that prints of Bob Terence. Shear luck I ever got them. I thought they'd be some random prints. Not those of a killer.

Maybe dad's right. This is serious. And might be dangerous.

I know that.

But still … this is a real case! And I solved it! Probably. This is great. Fun. Exciting.


	16. Case Reopened

_Jor? You have a John Doe today?_

_Two. Why?_

_Ask your daughter._

_Huh? Why? Andy?_

_Here._

I give mom the printout of the Seven Guy's file.

_I took prints of the Seven Guy. That's a man who hangs out at the Seven. He's there the whole day. Every day. But today he wasn't. And ..._

_Andy. What's this … Seven Guy … got to do with …_

_That's him! I ran the prints through the databases. At Nigel's computer. They match!_

_You what?_

_Mom! He wasn't homeless. We've got to find his family!_

'_We' don't do anything. But you're right. He wasn't homeless. Too clean._

_What's the c.o.d.?_

_Oh, that was easy. He was shot._

_See, dad? I'm right!_

_Huh?_

_We don't know that yet. Your daughter thinks your John Doe was after a killer I put away twelve years ago._

_What? But if you put him away …_

_He was a robber too. We never found the loot. And he's on probation. Tell your mom your story, Andy._

_That guy put the money in a poster frame at the Seven. And he came back to take it. The Seven was broken into two days ago. That was him!_

_The John Doe?_

Oh, come on, mom!

_Noo! Bob Terence! The killer!_

_And what's got the John Doe …_

_He found out! Somehow. He was at the Seven all the time. And he noticed that someone opened the frame. And then he disappeared._

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I had to tell mom every step. She isn't as mad as dad, but still …

She told Nigel to get an ID for the Seven Guy and to verify my findings at the Seven.

We're back at the precinct. Mom and dad argued about if we should come with them. Dad said no. But Matty and I wouldn't go home on our own. And mom figured that they could control us better if we stayed.

_Mommy, can we watch? Pleease?_

Now Matty's curious too. We've come this far on our own. But now we're out.

_No. You two stay in daddy's office. You hear me?_

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I'm grounded for like forever. And mom confiscated my fingerprinting set.

I only had that for a few days!

This is so unfair. I kinda solved this case on my own! Dad reopened it officially now. And I'm out of it.

Matty's fine. He's not grounded at all. He can go out play with his friends tomorrow. I got to get home and stay there. And mom asked grandpa to make sure I do! I'm ten now! I don't need a babysitter! Guess they don't trust me anymore.

And the worst thing of this whole mess? My parents know me too well. They know exactly how to punish me. They basically ignored me the whole evening. And they didn't say a word about the case! Not only not to me but to each other although! This is like hell! They always talk about there cases. But they know too damn well I enjoy listening. And they cleaned up all the case files! Mom and dad like going through case files in the living room. And they always have some there. They took them away! No more reading them for me.

Why can't I have parents that don't have a clue about what their kids are doing? Mine are rarely at home but they know me too well.


	17. Case Closed

Today, one week after my tenth birthday, two weeks after mom's birthday, is the last day of the Waiting.

I'm still grounded. That was expected. My fingerprinting set is still gone, which was expected also.

But there are still no case files in the living room. And mom and dad don't talk about work. Not at all. Whenever I ask about the Seven Guy, they just say "We are working on it." And whenever I ask how work is, they just say it's good. They talk about a lot of things. School. Neighbors. The news. Anything but work. This is terrible. I never thought this could last. My parents always talk about work. They live their work. But now?

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_Andy? Can I come in?_

_Sure, mom._

_I wanted to … give you back this._

My fingerprinting set!

_Thanks, mom!_

_You were right, you know._

_So it was Bob Terence who killed the Seven Guy?_

_Yup. And he had hidden the loot inside that poster frame._

_Wow. So the case is closed now?_

_It is. Your dad is handing over the evidence to the DA this moment._

So I was right. Wow. This is a strange feeling. Good. Somehow.

_I'm proud of you, Andy._

What? Did she just say that?

_Come 'ere._

_Mom!_

Ew. She's hugging me too tight. This is enough.

_Are you still mad?_

Mom's smiling.

_I never really was._

What?

_I was only scared._

No. You were mad, mom. I could see that.

_Scared for my little girl. Scared something might happen to her._

…

_It is dangerous to go after criminals, Andy._

_Mom. I know that. It was just play. At first. I never thought those prints would really be in the system. The Seven Guy's were funny. I thought they were not clear. And the other could have been random._

_But they were not. And you should have told me right then._

_But it said it was dad's case. I was curious. I would have told you if I hadn't known the detective. Really, mom._

_I know, honey. But still …. Next time you'll tell us when you have so much of a suspicion, ok?_

_But mom …_

_Andy?_

_Ok. I'll tell you._

Who knows? I might. I might not.

_Good. You know why that guy's prints were 'funny'?_

_No. Why?_

_He had his hands burned. His fingers were full of scars._

_Like that officer._

_Yes, like that officer. Exactly like that officer. Your 'Seven Guy' was Officer Frey._

_Oh! Than he was looking for the money all the time? That's why he was in the Seven always?_

_Hm. He dropped out of force after that. And his only goal was to find that money. He didn't. But Bob Terence came back. And you know the rest._

_This is …_

_It feels good to crack a case, doesn't it?_

_Yeah. I cracked it? Really?_

_You did._

Wow. Mom really thinks that!

_I bet you'd love to do it again._

_Yes. Can I? Mom?_

_Your time's not up yet. But after that …_

_I'm still grounded._

_You are. And you won't deal with evidence for a long time. You can help Nige with his experiments again. But no evidence! Ok?_

_But you said …_

_No evidence! But there's something else. You might like it. There's a game I used to play with my dad when I was not much older than you. A game to find out how things happened. …_

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Wow. I didn't know that. Mom started solving cases when she was twelve. With grandpa. They played killer and victim. Replayed what happened. They still play that sometimes. Grandpa, mom and dad. After Matty and I are went to bed. But mom said I can play with them every now and then. Not everytime. They'll select cases for me. But still …

I think that's going to be fun. Playing out real cases. And solving them.

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Today, one week after my tenth birthday, two weeks after mom's birthday, is the last day of the Waiting. And a strange thing really did happen in the last week. And a whole new life has begun for me.


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